Poutine for the rest of Canada

Smoke’s Poutinerie founder Ryan Smolkin, at the restaurant’s Adelaide St. location in Toronto, is bringing a franchise to Bishop St. in Montreal.Aaron Harris
/ SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE

The chain offers traditional poutine (above), and variations including country style and Philly cheese steak; prices range from $5.50 to$9.99.Aaron Harris
/ SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE

The chain offers traditional poutine, and variations including country style; prices range from $5.50 to$9.99.Aaron Harris
/ SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE

The chain offers traditional poutine, and variations including Philly cheese steak; prices range from $5.50 to$9.99.Aaron Harris
/ SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE

“They’ll come in for lunch in their suits with colleagues and they’ll come back at one in the morning with ties wrapped around their heads,” says Smoke’s Poutinerie founder Ryan Smolkin, about the kind of clientele he expects in Montreal.Aaron Harris
/ SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE

“They’ll come in for lunch in their suits with colleagues and they’ll come back at one in the morning with ties wrapped around their heads,” says Smoke’s Poutinerie founder Ryan Smolkin, about the kind of clientele he expects in Montreal.Aaron Harris
/ SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE

Smoke’s Poutine’s 15 franchises, including this one in Toronto, offer the same menu, which features only poutine. There are no hamburgers or other sandwiches, and no booze.Aaron Harris
/ SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE

MONTREAL - When a man goes after global poutine domination, it’s only a matter of time before he sets up shop in downtown Montreal. And, so, in early April, the city’s first Smoke’s Poutinerie will open – on Bishop St., in the Concordia ghetto.

Yes, it took a Torontonian – Ryan Smolkin – to envision a poutine franchise that would stretch from coast to coast, and four years after he opened his first poutine shop in Toronto, Smoke’s is spreading the poutine gospel across Canada, churning out nothing but box after hefty box of fries covered in all manner of toppings.

“When I founded Smoke’s Poutinerie in Toronto, I was getting trashed in the local papers and blogs: ‘Who’s going to pay $10 for a poutine? The guy’s crazy!’ ”

Turns out he’s not so crazy. After signing his Toronto lease and before he opened in Toronto, Smolkin came to – where else? – Montreal to sample poutine. “I went to La Banquise on a Wednesday night and it was pouring rain and it was still packed. Everybody was eating poutine, and I just said, ‘This is going to work.’ ”

Smolkin grew up in Ottawa, making the trip to Montreal regularly to see the Canadiens and the Expos (“There wasn’t a Sens team then, so it was all Montreal”). He moved to Waterloo, Ont. for university and went on to found successful businesses in property development, branding and design. “I’m an entrepreneur first and foremost,” he says, but he followed his nose and, as he describes it, his stomach into the poutine business. “I love to eat. I always said that if I ever combine food and business it’ll be a lifer. And the concept of Smoke’s was unique, so I went for it. I’m not pretending that I’m Québécois or the master of poutine. My plan is to take my love of Quebec to the rest of the world. I’m definitely trying to keep it as authentic as possible but do my own twist on it.

Smolkin says he didn’t have any restaurant industry experience starting out, so he worked with Toronto restaurant consultants, The Fifteen Group, to learn about equipment, suppliers, and how to run a kitchen. The consulting company’s full-time chef even helped him develop the original gravy recipe, though he now works with Montreal-based ED Foods to develop new sauces. Smolkin – admittedly more of an eater than a cook – has come a long way since he and his VP Operations – food industry veteran Glenn Mori – ran the first location themselves. “We did everything from scrubbing toilets to prepping and blanching fries, to doing inventory,” Smolkin explains.

The in-and-out counter-service restaurant on Bishop St. will be open until 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and will target a young demographic. “It’s young families and urban professionals,” Smolkin says. “They’ll come for lunch in their suits with colleagues and they’ll come back at one in the morning with ties wrapped around their heads.”

Smolkin respects the city’s long-established houses of poutine including 24-hour restaurant La Banquise (“That’s where I go every time I’m in Montreal”), and he is confident there’s enough late-night poutine business to go around.

Marc Latendresse of La Banquise agrees, despite the recent increase of poutine restaurants including Poutineville on Ontario St. and Poutine en Folie on St. Laurent Blvd. “Smoke’s Poutinerie is a strong chain,” says Latendresse. “It’s a good product, so they’ll be successful. It won’t stop us from working hard and having an ambience that people like. La Banquise – there’s only one. Our clientele likes that. It would be hard to reproduce.”

Smoke’s offers more than 22 types of poutine, and, like La Banquise, some are traditional, some are not. But Smoke’s doesn’t have a lot of seating; it sells only poutine – no hamburgers or sandwiches – and doesn’t have a liquor license. “We get customers after they’ve had a few drinks, when they get the munchies,” Smolkin says.

Smoke’s menu is the same for all its franchises. In Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Halifax or any of its handful of other shops, a basic poutine sells for $5.50 and goes up to $9.99 for one laden with chipotle pulled pork, bacon and sausage. Smolkin explains that he came up with the menu “with his gut” and he loves his market research. While most options are meat-heavy and the regular gravy is chicken-based, three vegetarian poutine options are available. He is also considering gluten-free possibilities.

Smolkin likes trying new ideas including “Thanksgiving poutine” with turkey, stuffing, peas and cranberry sauce, or “ice cream poutine” with chocolate syrup. On a London, Ont., talk show he challenged viewers to come up with their dream poutines. On the next show the host tested the top three and declared the “breakfast poutine” the winner – double-smoked bacon, scrambled eggs and maple syrup. For a time it was sold nationwide.

Latendresse explains that offering these poutines as special promotions drums up buzz, and they do the same at La Banquise.

In the works for Smoke’s is a lobster poutine. “Something like that we’ll do for $29.95 as a limited-time offer, but the core menu items are about value, and that’s why we’ll never go for the braised beef, roasted in the oven for 18 hours or lobster on the menu permanently. But I love my market research!”

Smoke’s ships its Quebec bacon, squeaky cheese curds and custom-made, powdered MSG-free gravies to all the franchises Canada-wide. For the fries, Smolkin says double blanching in oil is the secret to both achieving great taste and saving time. The first deep-frying cooks the potato while the second crisps the outside. When a customer places an order, it takes a minute and a half to blanch the fries the second time instead of seven minutes to cook them completely, which helps the kitchen make up to three poutines per minute. “Our record right now is 167 poutines in one hour,” says Smolkin.

The Bishop St. location won’t be Quebec’s first Smoke’s. Since 2010 there has been one in Mont Tremblant, run by a Quebec couple, Smolkin is quick to point out. “Eric and Caro have lived in Tremblant for 15 years and everybody respects and loves them, and they’re doing fabulous. That’s why I don’t like when people say, ‘that Toronto guy’, or ‘that Ontario person coming into our market.’ ”

Here in Montreal, Smoke’s Poutinerie will also be a family venture, run by brother-sister team Kathy and Allan Davey, Kathy’s husband Robert, and Allan’s wife Marie-Josée. As for who’ll be manning the fryers at 3 a.m., Robert says he plans to split the late-night hours with his son, and they hope to bring in a nephew who’s studying at Concordia part-time.

With 15 franchises and counting, Smolkin hasn’t tired of poutine yet. “It’s a treat. A little insulation, I say. Besides, we just introduced one that’s half the calories and carbs. People are loving it! We give a second fork for free and tell you to share. “Clogging arteries since 2008 – that’s our tagline,” he says. “My wife worries about my arteries. So I just have my poutine in moderation – only two a day.”

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